Guard rail mounting



Sept. 17, 1968 R. c. RUDE 3,401,910

GUARD RAIL MOUNTING Filed Sept. 15, 1965 s Shets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. P41414000 J'z/Pw' P001 Sept. 17, 1968 R. c. RUDE GUARD RAIL MQUNTING 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed Sept. 15, 1965 R O N E V m Sept. 17, 1968 R. C. RUDE GUARD RAIL MOUNT ING 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 13, 1965 @kmw five/v5 far/5 INVENTOR.

Z ArmEA/B f United States Patent 3,401,910 GUARD RAIL MOUNTING Raymond C. Rude, Arcadia Air Products, 383 N. Altadena Drive, Pasadena, Calif. 91167 Filed Sept. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 436,897 6 Claims. (Cl. 248251) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A guard rail structure in which a rail is seated against a cradle-shaped portion of an anchored bracket. A band is formed in a loop around the rail and extends into a recess in the cradle-shaped portion of the bracket. A threaded member is secured to the band by a nut, and the member extends through the recess to be secured to the bracket by a second nut.

This invention relates to a mount for a guard rail.

Guard rails are essential for safety and convenience on stairways, catwalks, diving boards, and other elevated structures. They are also useful in many non-elevated applications such as channeling the trafiic flow of persons in a store, theater, etc. Such guard rails are typically constructed from metal tubing because this material is strong, abrasion resistant, relatively easy to form into curved shapes, and has a long service life.

It is important that the guard rails be firmly secured to an anchored support member, and this has often been accomplished in the past by running one or more bolts through drilled holes in the rail into the support member. This mounting technique has the disadvantage of requiring precisely located holes in the rails which usually must be drilled during final assembly of the rail structure to insure correct positioning. Minor adjustments in rail position may require drilling of additional holes and plugging of unused holes if an attractive rail structure is to be erected. Furthermore, the holes tend to decrease the structural strength of the rail.

The guard rail mounting of this invention overcomes these shortcomings and provides simple, rugged, and easily adjustable means for clamping rails to each other or to an anchored support member. No holes need be drilled in the rails, and adjustments in rail position are readily made by simply loosening a clamping nut. The structure can be quickly assembled on site by unskilled workers.

Brief summary of the invention Briefly stated, the invention includes a band formed in a loop around a guard rail, and an anchored bracket having a cradleshaped portion disposed against the rail over a portion of the band. The bracket has an opening therethrough in the cradle-shaped portion, and a member is secured to the band and extends through the opening. Means are engaged with the member for drawing the band toward the bracket whereby the rail is seated tightly in the cradle-shaped position.

The invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a diving tower incorporating the guard rail mounting of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a guard rail and a pair of mounting clamps;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a support bracket as used in the invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the bracket shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the assembled rail, clamps and support bracket;

FIG. 6 is an elevation of two guard rails secured together in accordance with the invention;

3,491.,9 1h Patented Sept. 1 7, 1968 FIG. 7 is a view along line 77 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a view along line 8-8 of FIG. 6.

The guard rail mounting of this invention is especially useful in the construction of towers for diving boards, and will be described in terms of this application. FIG. 1 shows a diving tower 10 which includes an upright main base 12, a ladder 13, and a diving board 14 secured to the top of the main base and ladder. A pair of guard rail structures 15 are disposed on opposite sides of the diving board and secured to the main base and ladder.

Each guard rail structure 15 includes a pair of support brackets 18 secured to and extending upwardly from the top of the main base. An upper guard rail 19 is clamped to the top of the support brackets, and extends rearwardly and downwardly to seat in a socket 20 in the top of the ladder. A lower guard rail 22 is clamped to an intermediate portion of each support bracket and extends rearwardly to abut and be clamped to the upper guard rail.

FIGS. 2 through 5 show the details of the guard rail mounting of this invention. Referring to FIG. 2, a pair of clamps 25 are mounted on a guard rail 19. Each clamp includes a metal band 26 formed in a loop around the guard rail. Part of the band extends away from the guard rail and is formed into a flat portion 27.

The ends of the band overlap in fiat portion 27, and are secured together by any convenient means such as a spot weld 28. A threaded nut 30 is secured inside the hand against the fiat portion by spot welding or any other convenient means. A set screw 31 is threaded into the nut through the band.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the upper end of a support bracket 18. A top surface 34 of the support bracket is curved to match the cross-sectional contour of the guard rail. The bracket includes a pair of recessed openings 35 in the top surface, the recessed openings and top surface forming a cradle-like mounting for the guard rail. A hole 37 extends through a floor 38 of the recessed opening. The recessed opening is sufliciently deep to provide clearance for clamp 25 when the rail is seated against the top surface of the support bracket. The bracket may be cast in this form, or the top surface, recessed opening and hole may be machined into the top of the bracket.

FIG. 5 illustrates the assembled guard rail mounting. Guard rail 19 is seated against curved top surface 34 of the support bracket, and set screw 31 extends through the hole in the floor of the recessed opening. The set screw may be threaded into nut 30 either before or after the rail is seated on the support bracket. A clamping nut 39 is threaded onto the end of the set screw which projects through the hole. Tightening clamping nut 39 against the back of floor 38 pulls band 26 tightly around the rail, and the rail is thereby drawn against and firmly secured in the cradle-shaped top surface of the support bracket. The force exerted by the band on the rail pulls the rail against the bracket top surfaces on both sides of the recessed opening, resulting in a very stable and rigid mounting.

A band such as used in clamp 25 has great strength in tension, and clamping nut 39 may be tightened very snugly without fear of breaking the band. Pressure exerted by the band on the rail is evenly distributed over the rail surface, preventing marring of the surface, Adjustments in position of the rail relative to the support bracket are accomplished by simply loosening the clamping nut which relaxes the tension force on the band. The rail is easily slipped through the loosened clamp to the desired position, and the clamping nut is then re-tightened.

Set screw 31 may be slightly tightened against the rail to keep the clamp from sliding on the rail during mounting on the support bracket. However, it is unnecessary for the set screw to bear on the rail after the rail is secured to the support bracket. In fact, the band will usually stretch sufiiciently when clamping nut 39 is tightened that the set screw will move away from the rail surface. The set screw normally locks in place when the clamping nut is tightened. However, if the set screw tends to turn with the clamping nut, it becomes locked against further rotation when it contacts the rail.

The guard rail mounting shown in FIGS. 25 could of course also be fabricated using only a single clamp and recessed opening. However, the double-clamp arrangement illustrated is useful in that it may also be used to mount two abutting collinear guard rails. A double-rail mounting is easily visualized in FIG. 2 by considering rail 19 to be made of two colinear rails which abut each other along line 41 (shown in phantom).

FIGS. 68 show another form of the invention used to secure together two transversely oriented abutting rails such as rails 19 and 22 in FIG. 1. A curved bracket 45 has an enlarged portion 46 at each end thereof. A surface 47 of each enlarged portion is curved to match the contour of the rails. Each surface 47 includes a recessed opening 49, floor 50, and hole 51 formed in the same manner as in support bracket 18 described above.

A clamp 25, as described above, is slipped over each of the abutting rails and oriented so set screws 31 extend through holes 51 in the curved bracket. A clam-ping nut 39 is then threaded on each set screw and tightened against the back of floor 50, tensioning the clamps and securing the rails to the bracket.

The mounting of this invention can be used in many different guard-rail structures, and is not limited to the specific configurations illustrated and discussed above. The invention has utility whenever a very secure guardrail mounting is needed, and is especially advantageous in applications which may require on-site erection of a guard-rail structure or where adjustments in rail position may be necessary.

I claim:

1. A guard rail structure, comprising an elongated rail, a band formed in :a closed loop around the rail, an anchored bracket having a cradle-shaped portion disposed against the rail over a portion of the band, the cradleshaped portion being recessed to clear the band, the bracket having an opening therethrough in the cradleshaped portion, a first nut secured to the band, a setscrew threaded into the nut and extending through the band toward the rail, the head of the setscrew extending through the opening, and a second nut threaded on the setscrew against the bracket for drawing the band toward the bracket whereby the rail is seated tightly in the cradle-shaped portion.

2. A guard rail structure, comprising a rail, a first band formed in a loop around the rail, a second band formed in a loop around the rail and spaced apart from the first band, an anchored bracket having cradle-shaped portions disposed against the rail over the bands, the cradleshaped portion being recessed to clear the bands, the bracket having openings therethrough in the cradle-shaped portion, a first threaded member secured to the first band and extending through one of the openings in the overlying cradle-shaped portion, a second threaded member secured to the second band and extending through another of the openings in the overlying cradle-shaped portion, and a pair of nuts, one respective nut being threaded on each of the respective threaded members against the bracket for drawing the bands toward the bracket whereby the rail is seated tightly in the cradleshaped portion.

3. A guard rail structure, comprising a pair of rails, a first band formed in a loop around one of the rails, a second band formed in a loop around the other rail, an anchored bracket having a pair of spaced-apart cradleshaped portions disposed against the rails over the bands, the cradle-shaped portions being recessed to clear the bands, the bracket having an opening therethrough in each of the cradle-shaped portions, a first threaded member secured to the first band and extending through the opening in the overlying cradle-shaped portion, a second threaded member secured to the second band and extending through the opening in the overlying cradle-shaped portion, and a pair of nuts, one respective nut being threaded on each of the respective threaded members against the bracket for drawing the bands toward the bracket whereby the rails are seated tightly in the cradleshaped portions.

4. A guard rail structure, comprising a pair of transversely oriented abutting rails, at least one of the rails being anchored, a first band formed in a loop around one of the rails, 21 second band formed in a loop around the other rail, a bracket having a pair of spaced-apart cradle-shaped portions disposed against the rails over the bands, the cradle-shaped portions being recessed to clear the bands, the bracket having an opening therethrough in each of the cradle-shaped portions, a first threaded member secured to the first band and extending through the opening in the overlying cradle-shaped portion, a second threaded member secured to the second hand and extending through the opening in the overlying cradleshaped portion, and a pair of nuts, one respective nut being threaded on each of the respective threaded members against the bracket for drawing the bands toward the bracket whereby the rails are seated tightly in the cradle-shaped portions.

5. A guard rail structure, comprising an elongated rail, a band formed in a closed loop around the rail, an anchored bracket having a cradle-shaped portion disposed against the rail over a portion of the band, the cradleshaped portion being recessed to clear the band, the bracket having an opening therethrough in the cradleshaped portion, a nut secured to the band, and a screw engaged with the bracket and extending through the opening toward the rail to be threaded into the nut for drawing the band toward the bracket whereby the rail is seated tightly in the cradle-shaped portion.

6. The guard rail structure defined in claim 5 in which the nut is disposed between the band and the rail.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,896,899 7/1959 Ronan 248251 FOREIGN PATENTS Ad. 57,589 11/1952 France.

JOHN PETO, Primary Examiner. 

